Nanchang...and crazy Walmart!

This morning we said goodbye to our dear new friend Sara as she was flying back to Shepherd’s Field.  We feel honoured to have had the chance to spend time with her and get to know her…she is a wonderful person, doing amazing work for God’s children.  Sara works as the liason between Shepherd’s Field and the orphanages…so she arranges for the children who will be cared for at Shepherd’s Field (like Thea), and is also the one to see the children off and fly them to their birth province when they have been adopted…what an amazing job.  She has blessed us much in this journey…Sara is the one that gave us all of the updates and photos of our Thea before we came to China, and she took great care of us while visiting Shepherd’s Field.   We will miss her and hope to someday see her again.

We are staying at on the 21^st floor of the Jin Feng Hotel in Nanchang.  It is crazy how much smog there is here...we wonder if they ever get to see a blue sky?  We have now met up with 3 other families from BC that met their new daughters here yesterday just before we arrived.  We will be traveling with these families now for the duration of our trip.  Thea is the oldest of the 4 baby girls and is the only one adopted through the waiting child program.  The other 3 babies came from a different orphanage than Thea, and actually all shared the same room…very cool for those families to have that connection.

Today was a ‘free day’…so Mataeus took the opportunity to go swimming in the pool.  It was nice for him to be able to do something fun like that, as he was getting a bit of ‘cabin fever’.  He has been such a great kid…he is so good to Thea, and VERY protective of her too.  He hasn’t minded one bit that everything is ‘all about her’…we are so lucky to have him with us, and even more blessed that he is our boy! J

This morning we had a chance to talk to our Nathaniel via skype.  It was so great to see him and talk with him.  He was so excited to see ‘Flea’ and was kissing her on the screen over and over.  We truly appreciate all of your prayers for him…we are hoping that talking to him made things easier…now that we are in a bigger city the internet is better and we will be able to talk to him daily.  Praying this makes it easier for him rather than harder.

This afternoon we went to Walmart…Nanchang style.  The taxi ride there and back was unreal…weaving in and out and around other vehicles and scooters…absolute craziness!  Then on the way home…we are in a back alley and the traffic all of a sudden stops…our cab driver turns off the car and gets out!!  Talk about being just a TAD concerned…you should have seen Glen, instant daddy ‘protection mode’!!!  What an adventure!  And Walmart…wow…where do we begin…let’s just say, chicken feet, chicken feet, and more chicken feet…to go with the frogs, turtles, and eels.  An eye opener for our little Mataeus for sure.  We got the essentials we needed and then got out as fast as possible…lol!

Little Thea is getting more and more attached to us.  She reaches for us and crawls to us, and even leans in for kisses now.  She has a ready smile and the cutest little laugh.  She gets cranky when she is hungry or tired, but aside from that she is a happy little girl.  And boy does she sleep!  A solid 13 hours last night, and then another 3 hour nap today!!! Hoping this lasts, but I’m not holding my breath.  It is easy to see that the craziness of life ‘outside of Shepherd’s Field’ is a bit overwhelming for her…it must be hard to be going through such a change in her life and seeing so many new things all at once.

The little ones are sleeping now and Glen and mom are playing a video game on the TV…and getting very competitive I might add! J

Again, I want to thank Kim for sending us all the comments you are leaving on our blog!  What a blessing to be able to read them…it makes us feel very loved, and helps us feel connected to home.  Wish we had time to reply to you all…but just know that we appreciate them bigtime!

Off to bed for me…love to you all!

Gayle xox

It's Official!

Today we flew from Beijing to Nanchang, the capital city of Thea’s birth province (Jiangxi) to do all of the official adoption paperwork. This was Thea’s first time on an airplane…we were well prepared with bottles and food, but she still got fussy as it was her usual naptime. She finally fell asleep in the baby carrier our friends lent to us…me standing at the back of the plane swaying her…thank you Drinkwaters for lending it to us…the carrier was a God send today! She didn’t get much of rest before we landed and from then on it was absolute craziness.

We did not have time to go to the hotel first, and went straight to the civic affairs office to do the paperwork. We walked into a room with other families already there that had just met their babies. It was hot in the room...and so chaotic and overwhelming. We were literally thrown into signing papers, taking Thea’s foot prints, paying our fees, having an interview, pictures taken, etc…but in the end, we were handed a red folder…inside holding the document saying that Thea is now officially OURS!!! We were so thrilled!

We met the director of the Duchang orphanage that Thea was found at…she was so lovely and gave Thea a necklace with a Tiger on it as she was born in the year of the Tiger. She also brought for us a copy of the note from Thea’s birth parents that they had put with her when they left her outside the orphanage gates. As well, she gave us the blanket she was wrapped in. Wow…what an amazing blessing to be given those things. I had asked ahead if we could have them, but really didn’t think we would as she has not been at that orphanage since last July. I was an emotional wreck and completely broke down upon seeing the note and blanket.

After all the chaos, we came and got settled into our hotel here in Nanchang. The interesting thing was that it seemed like Thea changed when we got here…she was chatting up a storm, and happier than we have seen her yet. It was like she knew that it was finally official that she was our little girl…now and forever!

We would love prayer for our little Nathaniel back home. Glen’s mum emailed saying he was having a hard time and getting angry at her that we are not home. It is so very hard to be away from him…but even harder knowing that we still have so long before we can be back home with him again. I pray that he will somehow understand, and that the time will pass quickly for him (and for Nana and Papa as well). We are so very grateful to them for watching him while we are away.

Heading to bed now after a very long and exhausting day.

Gayle xox

Last Day at Shepherd's Field

It is now bright and early and we are all once again waiting for princess Thea to wake up. This morning we will be leaving Shepherd’s Field to go to Beijing and fly to Thea’s birth province of Jiangxi…about a 2 and half hour flight. This will be Thea’s first airplane ride ever…we are praying that it will go well, especially as we take off right at her naptime!

As soon as we arrive in Nanchang (capital city of Jiangxi), we will go directly to our hotel where the initial adoption paperwork will be completed immediately. Not sure what the rest of the day will include aside from those formalities. We are all feeling like we would rather be coming home now instead of staying in China for the next week and a half…seems like so much to put Thea through, and we can’t wait to get her home and have her meet Nathaniel. We are missing our little boy so much…sure wish he could be here with us too! Better go and get ready to leave…will update more later tonight after our busy day.

Also…I just wanted to say thank you to our friend Kim. Blogger is blocked in China, so we have been emailing her the posts and pictures and she has been kind enough to post them for us. She has also been emailing us all the comments so that we can see them…thank you so much Kim!!

May 29th

We had another quiet and enjoyable day at Shepherd’s Field. When Thea woke up in the morning she seemed happy to see us, instead of like yesterday when she took the time to carefully inspect each off us again before deciding we were safe.

We were able to visit the other houses today, and play with the children…they definitely love visitors and love to be picked up and held. We brought a balloon with us and the kids had lots of fun playing with it together. Just as I suspected, our hearts ache for these sweet children, especially the older ones…if we were allowed we would be coming home with more than just our Thea!

We went out of Shepherd’s Field’s for dinner tonight to a ‘western’ restaurant called Hollywood…it was a nice treat for Mataeus to have a hamburger, but the best part was watching mom trying to eat her spaghetti with chopsticks and then adding a spoon with the chopsticks too…very funny! J This was Thea’s first time out of Shepherd’s Field, aside from when she cleft lip surgery was done last November…she was definitely taking it all in. Thea was a bit fussy for the first time during dinner…we weren’t sure what was bothering her. When we brought her back to the Inn at Shepherd’s Field, we decided to give her a bath and discovered that had hives all over her tummy. Not sure if it was from the heat, or if she is reacting to some of the new foods we have given her. She woke up in the night crying too…we brought her into bed with us and cuddled her and eventually put her back in her crib. Praying she will be feeling better in the morning.

Sharon & Angie…saw your sweet angels…will share more with you when we return!

Shelly…can’t wait to tell you all about Shepherd’s Field, what a blessing that this is where our little girl’s lived before joining our families!

Day Two With Our Girl

Today was a truly great day…quiet, relaxing, and filled with lots of time for us to get to know our little Thea better. 

She is doing so extremely well adjusting to all of the changes…we are praising God for answering our prayers...we truly could not ask for things to be going any better!  It's almost like she's been with us for a long time already.  She has been very content and has only started to cry once when she saw me with her bottle and I didn’t get it to her fast enough. J  Last night she slept through the night until 6:30 this morning…meanwhile the rest of us were all awake from 4am on waiting for her to wake up (staring into her crib most of the time too I might add)!!  Then today she had almost a 4 hour nap…wow…we thought we might pay for that at bedtime, but her and Mataeus went to bed together and are both sleeping soundly. J

Shepherd’s Field has 5 houses where the children live with their ayis (nannies)…Thea was living in the ‘House of Blessings’.  We are so thankful that today we were able to spend quite awhile visiting in her house with her.  We got to meet her ayis and see them with her…we were also able to take pictures of her crib and all the house living spaces.  It was wonderful to see our little girl with the other children she has been living with, and were very thankful that she didn’t cry when she saw her ayis and had to say goodbye again.

The people here at Shepherd’s Field have been absolutely wonderful to us…what an amazing place our little girl has been living.  There are no words to express our thanks for the privilege and blessing it is for us to be here.

Mataeus adores his mei mei and wants to be with her constantly…and she is extremely fond of him too.  I asked him last night if he could believe that she was his sister …and he said, “It’s like a miracle”.  He has made us very proud with how grown up he has been on our trip.  I told him I was posting on our blog, and he said he wants me to tell everyone that he really loves to play with his sister Thea and he is very happy to be in China.

Lastly…here is what we’ve learned so far about our little girl…

-          She can crawl…and fast too when she sees something she wants (like Mataeus’ DS)

-          She can pull herself up to the coffee table and walk along it to get into mischief J…and is quite proud of herself when doing it (I think we are going to be very busy and that she will get along great with our busy Nathaniel…oh, the trouble they will find together!)

-          She is a tiny little thing…her clothes are big and we had to buy smaller diapers

-          She likes showers
-          She twirls her ankles/feet when we are giving her a bottle :)

-          She already has us wrapped…she is reaching for me, and she has this little sound she makes when she wants us to pick her up, and when we do she gets a big smile

-          She is already looking for each of us to make sure we are all there

Thank you so much for all your comments…we appreciate them so much and are very thankful for all of your prayers!

Love Us xox

Meeting Thea

                

Wow...what a truly amazing day! 

We arrived at Shepherd's Field Children's Village around 4:30 to discover that they would bring Thea to us immediately.  We did not think that we would get to see her until tomorrow morning, or at the most we might get a glimpse of her today.  Needless to say, we were very excited, but also thrown off a bit as we had come straight from the airport off our long day of traveling. 

Thea's ayi was holding her and gave her to us...what an absolutely surreal moment.  Thea was so adorable...she didn't cry, but just looked at us one by one and examined us very closely and carefully.  Sara from Shepherd's Field was surprised she didn't cry as she is usually quite sensitive.  We spent the evening with her on our bed here playing with her and letting her check us out.  Our hearts melted when she smiled for us for the first time and even laughed too.  She already adores Mataeus and looks for him if he leaves her sight.  Her and Mataeus are now sleeping soundly, and she has still yet to cry...so blessed are we!  Glen, mom and I are extremely exhausted as we've been up for over 24 hours...time for some sleep...will share more tomorrow.  

God is so very good...we are so thankful that He chose us to be Thea's forever family...she is such a doll!  

And we're off...

Here it is...the last picture of us before we meet our precious little 'gift of God #3' and officially become a family of 5!

Praying for this day to come for so long...we are so very thankful that it is finally here.  What an incredible gift to have the honour of becoming xiaoyang's forever family...truly a blessing beyond measure!

Every good and perfect gift is from above...
~ James 1:17

We're coming to get you baby girl...yippee!!!

Getting closer...

Only 3 more sleeps until we leave to go and get our sweet little baby girl!!   

We had a special surprise today...Sara from Shepherd's Field sent us one last picture of Thea before we will finally meet her...what a wonderful gift!

We are thinking of Thea's birthmom today...it was exactly one year ago today (when Thea was just 10 days old) that her birthmom left her at the gates of the Duchang County orphanage to be found. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that decision must have been for her. Praying that she has peace about the decision she made that day, and that she will somehow know that her little one's forever family has found her...and will be with her very soon to love her and take care of her for the rest of her life!

xox

Imagine for a moment...

With only a week before we leave to go and meet our precious little Thea...I wanted to share the following article with you.  A friend of mine sent it to me...it is a sobering analogy of how our baby girl might interpret her life's events so far, as well as when we will meet her and she comes home with us.  I know it is long...but worth the read in helping us to be sensitive to Thea's perspective on things.   

Imagine for a moment...

You have met the person you've dreamed about all your life.  You love their touch, smell, the way they look into your eyes...everything about them.  This person understands you in a way that no one else does.  Your heart beats in rhythm with theirs.  Your emotions are intimately tied to their every joy and sorrow.  They have every quality that you desire in a spouse. 

You plan for the wedding...and happily become the spouse of this wonderful person.  You fall asleep that night, exhausted form the day's events, but relaxed and joyful in the knowledge that you are next to the person who loves you more than anyone in the world...the person who will be with you for the rest of your life.

The next morning you wake up, nestled in your partner's arms.  You open your eyes and immediately look for their face.  But it's not them!  You are in the arms of another person.  You recoil in horror.  Who is this?  Where is your beloved?

You ask questions of the new person, but it quickly becomes apparent that they don't understand you.  You search all over, calling and calling for your dear spouse.  The new person follows you around, trying to hug you, pats you on the back...even trying to stroke your arm, acting like everything is okay.  But you know that nothing is okay.  Your beloved is gone.  Where are they?  Will they return?  When?  What has happened to them?

Weeks pass.  You cry and cry over the loss of your beloved.  Sometimes you ache silently, in shock over what has happened.  The new person tries to comfort you.  You appreciate the attempts, but they don't speak your language - either verbally or emotionally.  They don't seem to realize the terrible thing that has happened...that your sweetheart is gone.

You find it difficult to sleep.  The new one tries to comfort you at bedtime with soft words and gently touches, but you avoid them, preferring to sleep alone, away from them and any intimate words or contact.  Months later, you still ache for your beloved, but gradually you are learning to trust this new person.  They've finally learned that you like your coffee black.  Although you still don't understand the bedtime songs, you like the lilt of their voice and take some comfort in it.

More time passes.  One morning, you wake up to find a suitcase sitting next to the front door.  You try to ask about it, but they just take you by the hand and lead you to the car.  You drive and drive and drive.  Nothing is familiar.  Where are you?  Where are they taking you?  You pull up to a large building.  They lead you to an elevator and up to a room filled with people.  Many are crying.  Some are ecstatic with joy.  You are confused.  And worried.

You are led over to a corner.  Another new person opens their arms and sweeps you up into an embrace.  They rub your back and kiss your cheeks, obviously thrilled to see you.  You are anything but thrilled to see them.  Who in the world is this person?  Where is your beloved?  You reach for the one that brought you, but they just smile (although seem to be tearing up, which concerns you), pats you on the back, and puts your hand in the hands of the new person.  The new one picks up your suitcase and leads you to the door.  The familiar face starts openly crying, waving and waving as the elevator doors close on you and the new person.

The new person drives you to an airport and you follow them, not knowing what else to do.  Sometimes you cry, but then the new person tries to make you smile, so you grin back, wanting to 'get along'.  You board a plane.  The flight is long.  You sleep a lot, wanting to mentally escape from the situation.

Hours later, the plane touches down.  The new person is very excited and leads you into the airport where dozens of people are there to greet you.  Light bulbs flash as your photo is taken again and again.  The new person take you to another person who hugs you.  Who is this one?  You smile at them.  Then you are taken to another who pats your back and kisses your cheek.  Then yet another who gives you a big hug and messes your hair.  Finally, someone (which one is this?) pulls you into their arms with the biggest hug you've ever had.  They kiss you all over your cheeks and croon to you in some language you've never heard before.

You are led to a car and driven to another location.  Everything here looks different.  The climate is not what you're used to.  The smells are strange.  Nothing tastes familiar, except for the black coffee.  You wonder if someone told them that you like your coffee black.  You find it nearly impossible to sleep.  Sometimes you lie in bed for hours, staring into the blackness, furious with your spouse for leaving you, yet aching from the loss.  The new person checks on you.  They seem concerned and try to comfort you with soft words and a mug of warm milk.  You turn away, pretending to go to sleep.

People come to the house.  You can feel the anxiety start to bubble over as you look into the faces of all the new people.  You tightly grasp the new one's hand.  They pull you closer.  People smile and nudge one another, marveling at how quickly you've fallen in love.  Strangers reach for you, wanting to be a part of the happiness.  Each time someone hugs you, you wonder if they will be the one to take you away.  Just in case, you keep your suitcase packed and ready.  Although the person at this house is nice and you're hanging on for dear life, you've learned from experience that people come and go, so you just wait in expectation for the next one to come along.

Each morning, the new person hands you a cup of black coffee and looks at you expectantly.  A couple of times the pain and anger for your spouse is so great that you lash out, sending the hot coffee across the room, causing the new one to yelp in pain.  They just look at you, bewildered.  But most of the time you calmly take the cup.  You give them a smile.

And wait. And wait. And wait.

How would we handle all these changes?  How would this impact us for the rest of our lives?

Written by Cynthia Hockman-Chupp
Analogy courtesy of Dr. Kali Miller
From: Realistic Expectations...The First Year Home

Happy 1st Birthday Thea!

Our baby girl is 1 year old today!!!  Oh how we wish we could have already been with Thea to celebrate this very special day with her.  Instead we were able to send her some things for her birthday...a panda bear, singing birthday card, a letter and candies for her ayis (nannies), as well as some money for Shepherd's Field to buy her a cake.  Here is a picture of everything (except the cake) before it was sent to Shepherd's Field...

Shepherd's Field was kind enough to pick out a cake for our baby girl, and had a little 'cake party' for Thea to celebrate her birthday with her.  We were sent many photos from the party...so very grateful for these...it is so wonderful seeing all the kids enjoying the cake so much.  All but Thea that is...lol...we were told that she had just woken up from her nap....she kind of looked like she wasn't sure what to make of the whole ordeal...but she sure looked cute in her birthday crown!  In order to respect the children's privacy, I've only posted the pictures of just Thea.

She looks so tiny in this picture!

We were told that her ayi had to help her blow out the candle

as she didn't know what to do :)

I love the look on her face here...

'What are you trying to put in my mouth??'

The cake came out of her nose because her palate is still open...

something we will need to get used to until after her surgery.

 We had some friends join us tonight for a fun get together and little birthday celebration for Thea too...her big brothers did the honour of blowing out the candle on her birthday cake! 

Happy 1st Birthday xiaoyang!

We sure wish we could be there to celebrate this very special day with you.  May God shower His blessings upon you baby girl.  We pray that you will know Him and seek Him at a very young age.  We feel very lucky and blessed that we get to be your forever family...we love you so much already and can't wait to hold you in our arms!  Enjoy your special day xiaoyang!  We are so excited that we will be there to meet you and bring you home in just 2 short weeks!

Lots and lots of love and blessings,

Mommy, Daddy, and your 2 big brothers

xox
(This is what we had translated into Mandarin and written into the birthday card we sent Thea at Shepherd's Field)

Only 13 more sleeps before we leave for China!!!  We are so very excited that we will be meeting our little girl so very soon!  

Gayle :)

The Finished Bai Jia Bei...

 
It is absolutely beautiful!!!

~ click on the pics to enlarge :)

My auntie Sandra and Uncle Wayne came to our house and delivered Thea's finished 100 Good Wishes Quilt...we were all so excited!  The boys couldn't wait to have a look at their mei mei's new quilt.

I absolutely love that when I look at it, I know who contributed each and every square...so very special to have so many of our family and friends be a part of something so meaningful.  Thea's quilt will be treasured by us for many years to come...and indeed it will wrap her with all the love & blessings that came along with each and every square...thank you so much to those of you that chose to be a part of it. 

I will be forever grateful to my auntie Sandra for devoting so much love, effort, and time into putting Thea's Bai Jia Bei (100 Good Wishes Quilt) together for us! 

My aunt even took the time to put a continuous red thread all around the flower border of the quilt to go along with the Chinese proverb that we included in the quilt...I loved this so much!  It is so cool, because you really have to look close to see it.

I truly enjoyed the time I got to spend with my aunt while working on Thea's quilt...what a special way for me to get to know my auntie better!  A wonderful memory for me to cherish...thank you auntie!

Gayle :)